Part of The
Alchemist's Lair Web Site
Maintained by Harry E. Pence, Professor of Chemistry, SUNY Oneonta,
for the use of his students. Any opinions are totally coincidental
and have no official endorsement, including the people who sign
my pay checks. Comments and suggestions are welcome (pencehe@oneonta.edu).
Last Revised March 27, 2001
Susan Wade, a SUNY Oneonta graduate who currently works as a cosmetics formulator, was kind enough to provide the following description of what her job entails.
As a Cosmetics Formulator (R&D chemist) it is my responsibility to use raw materials and make a finished product based on marketing's (or an outside customer's wishes). With that we must also make sure the sample is stable, by stressing the product for one to three months under different conditions. We must make sure there are no regulatory issues, paying attention to such things as approval of raw materials in different counties(Japan is a killer), making sure that there are no toxicology issues with ingredients, and following FDA regulations for over-the-counter drugs (sunscreens, hydrocortisone, etc). It is also the responsibility of the chemist to make sure that the product made on the bench can be scaled up, and when it is, that it meets the same exact criteria as the batch made on the bench.
There are several different types of quality control (QC) chemists
in the cosmetics industry. A QC technician will examine every
batch that comes out of production and test it for pH, viscosity,
specific gravity, color, smell, etc. and compare it to the standard
supplied from the Research & Development Department. Another
job of a quality control chemist is to test every lot of every
raw material that will be used in final production to make sure
that specifications meet what the manufacturers say they are and
are the same as previous lots of that material. All drug products
must be tested analytically (either MS/GC or HPLC) to make sure
the correct amount of drug is present in the product. In addition,
some companies will ask their analytical chemists to analyze a
competitor's product (perhaps using an FTIR) and determine exactly
what it contains.
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